Friday April 23, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday April 24, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday April 25, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara at Long Beach State (15-17, 4-5)
at Long Beach State's Blair Field (3,000)
Series record vs. the 49ers - 62-70
Last win - 2009 (11-9 vs. LBSU; 5/10)
Last loss - 2008 (10-8 @ #26 LBSU; 5/10)
Last series win - 2009 (5/9 - 5/10 vs LBSU; 3-0)
Last series loss - 2008 (5/8 - 5/10 @ #26 LBSU; 1-2)
Last time out vs. the 49ers - W, 11-9 (5/10/09)
Streak - Won 4
All three games broadcast on AM 1490 and streaming live online at UCSBgauchos.com - Click here to listen live.
Games available on Gametracker
Games streaming live online at BigWest.TV

 Gaucho Baseball On The Radio
New this season, UCSB baseball games will be broadcast on AM 1490 and streaming live online at UCSBgauchos.com. Steve Wendt will handle the play-by-play duties with every Big West weekend series scheduled to air live on the radio and streaming live online. Click here for more information and a schedule of baseball games on the air!

 Look Like the Gauchos!
Earlier this year UCSB revealed a new look and the baseball team is sporting some new logos and uniforms on the field. Be sure to come to the baseball team's home games to outfit yourself in the new gear! Click here to take a look at the new logos and uniforms the Gauchos are wearing. All new gear is available for purchase at UCSB home baseball games.

 Let's Talk Some Gauchos
UCSB Athletics has a new weekly radio show called Talk'n Gauchos which airs every Tuesday from 6-7 p.m. on AM 1490 KIST. The show is broadcast live from State & A Bar and Grill, located on the corner of State Street and Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara. Fans are encouraged to attend the show for free gear and ticket giveaways or to even e-mail a question in to one of the guests and have it read live over the air. The show also airs live online via audio streaming and fans can click here to check out the entire lineup of live audio streaming online.

 Super Mario
UCSB junior left-hander Mario Hollands continued his superb season by pitching the Gauchos past No. 22 Cal State Fullerton on Friday in a 5-3 win. Hollands allowed three runs on eight hits in 8.2 innings pitched, striking out three. The El Cerrito, Calif. native ranks fourth in the Big West with his 3.12 ERA and his .236 batting average against while his 56 strikeouts put him third in the conference. Hollands has thrown 57.2 innings this season, which is tops on the team and ninth in the Big West and also places him just outside the school's career top-10. Hollands needs to pitch in 28.2 more innings to tie Steve Connolly (1984-87) for 10th all-time. Hollands also needs to strike out 16 more batters to tie teammate Mike Ford for 10th all-time in career K's at UCSB.

 Viva Valaika
Over his past nine games Matt Valaika is batting .447 (17-for-38) with multi-hit games in seven of those contests. Valaika has recorded nearly half his hits over this stretch (he has 35 on the season) and has raised his batting average from .261 to its current .327 - which is tops among regulars. The Valencia, Calif. native has knocked in nine of his team-high 25 runs in that span while scoring six of his team-best 24 runs in those games. Valaika leads the team with his .425 on-base percentage while his .920 OPS also paces the Gauchos.

 Hollands, Valaika Among Top in Nation
Senior shortstop Matt Valaika and junior pitcher Mario Hollands solidified their standing among the nation's elite when each were named to Player of the Year watch lists, courtesy of The College Baseball Foundation. Valaika, who led the Gauchos in batting average and slugging percentage last season, was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, an award that is given annually to the nation's best shortstop. Hollands, who has twice been named a Big West Pitcher of the Week, was named to The College Baseball Foundation's National Pitcher of the Year Watch List. Click here to read more.

 Going the Distance
UCSB's five complete games this season is more than the team had last year (three) and is approaching the 2008 total of six. Over the last decade, only the 2001 team (eight) and the 2008 club had more.

 For Starters ...
One of the Gauchos' strengths this season has been the starting pitching. As a staff, UCSB starters are averaging nearly 6.2 innings per start and only once this season (not including two planned "staff days") has a starter failed to pitch five full innings. In the team's 30 games, a Gaucho starter has completed six innings all but nine times (which includes the two "staff days"). The Gauchos have thrown five complete games, which is tops in the Big West. In addition, on only five occasions has a UCSB pitcher allowed more than five earned runs in a start.

 Greg is Great
Although his scoreless innings streak ended last Tuesday at 10 innings, junior right-hander Greg Davis has pitched brilliantly as of late. Over his last 11.1 innings pitched, which spans six outings, Davis has struck out 13 hitters while allowing just six hits, one run and no walks. His 2.63 ERA is the lowest on the team and opponents are hitting just .196 vs. the Huntington Beach native.

 Gunnar Shades
Senior centerfielder Gunnar Terhune has hits in 10 of his past 12 games, batting .340 (17-for-50) in that stretch with 12 runs scored, 10 RBI, four doubles, two triples and two stolen bases. The San Diego native leads the team with seven multi-RBI games and is tied for second on the team with 23 runs scored. His 21 RBI are also tied for second on the squad.

 See Sean Swing
Junior Sean Williams, who has started all 30 games hitting second and playing at second base, has hits in eight of his last nine games and, along with Valaika and Terhune, was the only Gaucho to have hits in all three games last weekend vs. No. 22 Cal State Fullerton. Williams has 11 multi-hit games this season, but six of those have come in April. This month the Costa Mesa, Calif. native is hitting .341 (15-for-44) with seven runs scored and six RBI. Williams, who transferred to UCSB from Irvine Valley College, has drawn a team-high 16 walks.

 Sugar Shane Shane Arslan took advantage of his opportunities last week, going 4-for-10 in three starts with a double, a triple and a home run. Arslan, who hails from Burlingame, Calif., drove in four runs and scored four more. In 19 games this season, 12 of them starts, the senior boasts a .542 slugging percentage.

 Terrific Tregoning
Since being inserted into the starting lineup on March 20, senior Ryan Tregoning has batted .356 (16 of 45) with 11 of his 15 RBI coming in that time and all but one of his six extra-base hits.

 Great Scott, Marty!
Although senior catcher Marty Mullins had his six-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday, the Los Gatos, Calif. native is the team's leader with five home runs and his .500 slugging percentage is tops among regulars. Over his past seven games, Mullins is batting .304 with five RBI.

 UCSB Quick Fact
In a nationwide e-mail to all sports information directors at Division 1 baseball schools, it appears that UCSB right-handed pitcher Sam Phippen is the only player in the country to be on a school's Division 1 basketball and baseball team.

 By the Numbers
7.2 - Average innings pitched by Mario Hollands this season, meaning he goes nearly 7 1/3 innings in every start. He has reached the 6th inning in all but one start this season.

 Brontsema Sets Wins Mark
UCSB head coach Bob Brontsema passed Al Ferrer (1981-93) for the most victories ever by a Gaucho coach as he secured No. 446 following last Sunday's 11-6 win over USF. Brontsema is already the school's record-holder for the most Division I victories and he is the Big West's active wins leader with 176 career conference victories. In his career Brontsema is 447-440-2 and has led the Gauchos to at least 25 victories in 11 of his 16 previous seasons.

 The Bob Brontsema File
The 2010 season marks the 29th year of Head Coach Bob Brontsema's involvement in the UC Santa Barbara baseball program. With two years as a player, 10 as an assistant coach and now entering his 17th season at the helm, Brontsema has been involved in 856 Gaucho victories, far more than anyone in UCSB baseball history. In fact, he has participated in 60 percent of all UCSB victories in school history. Brontsema has UCSB's most career wins - achieved on Sunday, Mar. 28 this season - is third in overall career winning percentage and third in career conference winning percentage. He also holds the record for most Division I wins in school history. His 17 years as Gaucho head coach give him the second longest tenure in UCSB baseball history, behind Dave Gorrie with 18 years.

The dean of Big West coaches, Brontsema currently ranks first in Big West career wins amongst active Big West coaches and number one in overall wins. In career conference wins, only five individuals throughout the history of the Big West surpass Brontsema. The Big West Conference is consistently ranked as one of the toughest baseball conferences in the country.

Brontsema has managed six former Gauchos who are currently playing in the Major Leagues (Cincinnati's Justin Lehr, St. Louis' Skip Schumaker, Colorado's Ryan Spilborghs, Pittsburgh's Virgil Vasquez, Texas' Michael Young and San Francisco's Barry Zito) and his 2009 squad tied a school record by having nine players drafted. Fifty-three of Brontsema's athletes have earned All-Big West honors and 10 of his Gauchos have been named All-Americans. Of the 69 athletes under Brontsema's tutelage selected into the professional ranks, only seven had been drafted before entering UCSB.

 Joe Gardner Noted by Baseball America
Former Gaucho standout Joe Gardner, who was the first Big West player chosen in last June's draft - in the third round by the Cleveland Indians - was recently mentioned by Baseball America as a prospect to watch. Read what the publication had to say: Righthander Joe Gardner's 18 strikeouts in nine innings, or that all of the other nine outs he's recorded have been ground balls? Low Class A Lake County is looking like a conservative assignment for Gardner, the Indians' 2009 third-rounder out of UC Santa Barbara. As you might have already guessed, Gardner's best pitch is his fastball, which sits in the low-90s with heavy sink. If he keeps dominating the South Atlantic League this way, it shouldn't be long before he's promoted to high Class A Kinston, as if that club needs any more pitching with Nick Hagadone, Alex White, T.J. House and Kelvin de la Cruz already the rotation.